SellavilleIn recent years no city has suffered so greatly or faced one-tenth the terror of Sellaville. Once a city of such magnificence and power that it was the seat for one of the three most powerful of the Magiocracies (Seval) it survived even the Magiarchal Wars and continued through Amoraâ€™s reign as the most powerful city in the South and the most magical city in the Empire. It was scant years ago though that its power and Entropy were turned against it and the city was cast into the Mittlenacht for a year. There, bereft of aid, the people were hunted down and fed upon by the demons that were fattened on the two-legged cattle they found within.

Small groups of citizens, lead by the Hanot (the Kallah having been driven mad by the lack of a City Spirit) managed to hide and even fight back. When they received brief aid from mercenaries and food from House Stoneheart it was enough for them to temporarily turn the tables on their conquerors such that the (by now) hardened survivors were able to forge a defensive Quarter and see out the remainder of the year when the city was thankfully returned.

It might have gone ill for Sellaville had its scars not been slowly healed by its Governor Latona, but even now the citizens rarely go anywhere unarmed and the Hanot have appointed themselves the cities guardians with the approval of the few hundred people who saw out the Bad Days with them.

Now the city is effectively confined to one corner (the Refuge) where almost everyone lives in the houses they have made from a cities worth of ancient stone. Beside the Refuge and overlooking it on a flat, rocky hill is the Peace Quarter where Latona's roundhouse can be found and beyond that the Tip where the citizens first piled the Brandin stone and seasoned wood that made up the cities rubble.

The people and the Land of SellavilleA little more than half the citizens of the city itself are those that fought for a year in the 'Nacht. Survivors of the Bad Days they are far tougher than the people found in other cities and more closely resemble mercenaries in their manner and watchfulness. Both the Council and the new life that is blooming in the city now have to some degree healed many of the wounds left by their experiences. Still though there is a fierce determination to never again let what happened to the city do so again. The citizens tend to swing between great happiness at their present lives, new children and even the rays of a yellow sun, and bouts of moody remembrance at what they all went through. The citizens very much want to put their experiences behind them, they truly want to settle and be good people with dreams, aims and desires and to some extent they have succeeded. But it doesn't take much to set the people back again, hands twitching towards a nearby spear, hunched and watchful of a strange sound in the night.

Beyond the city and the rural folk do not carry the scars of their more city-bound brethren. They never went through the Bad Days and if anything came of that it was the way in which each village and town became a little more independent. Even now there are villages and farms that are being found once more by travelling scribes and added to the cities core of knowledge. Healthier than many rural people, Sellaville villagers are similar to Heartlanders in many ways but more likely to indulge in a little improvised crop-hiding or even highway robbery if they think they can get away with it. Primarily, the villagers look after the village first and everything else thereafter. For the most part rural life can be found to the north and east of the city and the further west one goes from Sellaville the wilder and less lawless the land becomes.

Whilst the rural folk dress similarly to their Heartlands cousins (but without the often grandiose colours) the city dwellers are far more likely to wear pieces of armour padded jacks, leather armour and the like and wander the streets with at least a sword or spear to hand.

Why Mercenaries Adventure in SellavilleOutside of the carefully watched Refuge and the starkly barren Peace Quarters it is possible to actually find work inside the city that would more commonly be found in the countryside elsewhere. Whereas the Tip attracts the attention of the Stadtus and is thus often avoided by stalking creatures, the Desolation and Rubble Quarters hide all manner of nastiness. In places the catacombs and ragged streets blend and merge and each of these Quarters is a jumbled ruin, a shattered cityscape of the sort not seen since the Choas Wars. Many things can, and do, hide here and they have cunning enough to avoid the Hanot patrols that infrequently scour the rubble and broken-toothed buildings that once rose so grandly from streets whose paving is now little more than gravel and dust.

To the south lie the Brandins with the same promise as found by Thimon (see last issue) but to the west the real wilds start. With only one city on the west coast of the Empire and that without a Commisent for many years only the immediate surroundings of Bildteve resemble the relative promise of vague safety found elsewhere in the Empire along the coast.

For the most part the west of Sellaville and most all of the coastal lands are only thinly populated by Imperial citizens and its old hillforts, broken terrain and scattered forests and woods have become a place where law is little known.

Here many an orc tribe has settled away from the attention of the cities and the mercenaries and travellers even speak of ragged towns where cruel men have established markets in flesh both living and dead.

Even though the Brandins is home to many creatures driven there over the centuries by the hunters of Schtoy and the Empire some are said to have found land more like their old homes in the north west of the Brandins and now in the broken lands beyond. It is still the Empire and there are a few scattered, small, estates where the peace is kept by the Lord and his handful of retainers but still more often can be found the barefoot trails that lead to tattered evil, half-forgotten tribes of beasts and strange sails far out to sea where a hundred islands lead in a curve to the south.

The sky was clear above the city and only where the Brandins touched the horizon did the cover begin. There were always clouds over the mountains but here the air was still, crisp and clear. The Season was passing and the city dripped to the ice that melted from shingle and rooftop. In those more thinly populated quarters pools of water sat between piles of old stone and the softening earth was turning to ankle deep mud.

And when Aaron rode in to the city the people turned out to give him and cheer. He was one of their own and the news of his raising to the Warlord position pleased them greatly. They hardly followed him waving flags but nearly everyone raised a hand or a pint pot when they saw him a several hundred were waiting about the gate to the Refuge after news had reached them of his coming.

If he had a home anywhere, it was here. Petty politics were something that happened elsewhere, the people were brutally blunt and had faced more war and horror than anyone else in the Empire. They were perhaps a little too independent at times – the Empire was a philosophy they tended to agree with more than a living thing, and given their recent history and their habit of not wandering too far this was perhaps understandable.

It was hot enough to bleach the city clean to the eye and the sky outside the meeting hall was as blue as a robin’s egg and breathless as a priest with two temple dancers. It was clear of all but the faintest streak of cloud. On the horizon and the Brandins had greedily gathered such to themselves leaving few for the city to the north.

Aaron was no public speaker and so had taken Slider’s suggestion that he would be better served going about the meeting halls and other gatherings rather than attempting a single rally and a speech (perhaps) weakened by his admitted lack of oratorical finesse. Here then to small groups and streets the Warlord spoke to the tough, rather independent people of Sellaville.

He and Gull would effectively rule the city, and though he intended to retain some semblance of a Council he was not convinced that the city really needed the dour formality of others.

In this the people vociferously agreed. They had seen quite enough of rulers. They had liked Torwin and Latona but they had been figureheads more than anything else – and they spoke only curtly about Ardula. Sellaville was for Sellaville.

Aaron was long known to them and as local as they could probably wish for. Gull worked hard and to the people it was no bad thing to have someone from the South amongst them. They hated war – because they had seen more of it than most – the irony being that in all the Empire amongst the common folk they were probably the best at bearing up to it and fighting it. They or the ‘Rest at any rate, even if for entirely different reasons.

Somewhat unusually Sellaville has been quiet over the Final Dawn, doesn't stop the people from preparing for the worst.

Everybody is armed and the doors are bolted, windows shuttered and the streets empty except for the Watch Captain who stalks them and ensures there is no trouble.

Except to the West which has recently been opened up by the return of Amorphous - the efforts of he and his companions have created something of a beacon amidst the lawlessness of the western wilds.

Of some interest - the armour of the Robber Baron has almost completely corroded - it appears the armour itself was a prison of sorts and whatever was contained therein has been released/ the power been taken for use elsewhere. There appears no danger to Sellaville from it at this time.

In matters of trade, Sellaville is now considered the cheese capital of the Empire (if such a title was ever sought) famous for its runny cheeses to its harder 'battle cheeses' so favoured by Imperial Helds

The influence and dominion of the returned Lord Amorphus of Eldith was felt extending across his estates far from the city.

Within the city itself the people celebrated the oncoming of Sunner and a carefree air took hold of the city as the people celebrated of their own accord mostly in the absence of those heroes who might watch over the city, never really a city in great need of such guidance.

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Further afield - Sellaville has long enjoyed reasonable trade relations with Takalia, whilst not on the the same scale as Thimon, and unlikely to be so, trade with the south has further expanded to the South - with a recent route opening up from Sellaville to Schtoy via the Kiresch Pass

The people of Sellaville having avoided being ritually struck by one of the Spiter's Disciples (thanks to the ritual protections of the Chancellor of the Empire, Earl White), led by their Watch Captain, chased the Disciple and anything with even the vague semblance of horns out of the city. The Watch Captain, Jasiah, is a much regarded man in the city and it is to him the citizens take their problems to.On a lighter note the Fat Festival was celebrated on Lord Amorphus of Eldith's lands, organised by the dwarf Kyra, the festival was a resounding success attended by many of Sellaville's people including its City Spirit and confirmed Lord Amorphus' high standing within the community, it also saw the welcome return of Duchess Latona Stoneheart, Sellaville's former Governor.With the approach of the Deathly season though, and all it entails, many of Sellaville's citizens are preparing for the Final Dawn - burying food supplies and readying their weapons.

How up to date is the Wiki entry for Sellaville? Wiki...I guess it's not that up to date as it still has me listed as Magistrate. Is the City Spirit still Slider? Is he still basically leading the Hanot as a de facto Watch? What happened to the Kallah who went mad?

Slider is still the City Spirit. The Hanot are basically now the Kallah and act as a loose Watch. THe Kallah who went mad when Sellaville was in the 'Nacht got stirred up by Vayle about ten years ago into a religious frenzy and as much for their own safety as everyone elses were restrained by the Hanot and kept somewhere quiet and calm - I believe they were occasionally tended to by the CHurch of Shaehan.

Again there is no real issue to fix - people can play Kallah now - they won't go mad (unless deprived of their city spirit which is what caused it in the first place) - I think there'll be abilities in the next Almanac.

Slider is still the City Spirit. The Hanot are basically now the Kallah and act as a loose Watch. THe Kallah who went mad when Sellaville was in the 'Nacht got stirred up by Vayle about ten years ago into a religious frenzy and as much for their own safety as everyone elses were restrained by the Hanot and kept somewhere quiet and calm - I believe they were occasionally tended to by the CHurch of Shaehan.

Again there is no real issue to fix - people can play Kallah now - they won't go mad (unless deprived of their city spirit which is what caused it in the first place) - I think there'll be abilities in the next Almanac.

Giles.

This is basically what 'Jared Stoneheart' told me about the Kallah, but I was actually more interested in Slider, so thanks!

Slider was born Slithen Tremens the son of Ma Tremens (City Spirit) of Port Miere and Pa Tremens - he came to Sellaville having fallen out with the rest of his family, and tends to sit around drinking cider. He notably left Sellaville whilst City Spirit for the battle of Gileenim where he killed his Pa (who was trying to become some sort of pirate god), who could only be killed by one of his own blood.He lead the Hanot and rose to lead them and protect the city whils it was in the Mittelnacht for a year.

Slider was born Slithen Tremens the son of Ma Tremens (City Spirit) of Port Miere and Pa Tremens - he came to Sellaville having fallen out with the rest of his family, and tends to sit around drinking cider. He notably left Sellaville whilst City Spirit for the battle of Gileenim where he killed his Pa (who was trying to become some sort of pirate god), who could only be killed by one of his own blood.He lead the Hanot and rose to lead them and protect the city whils it was in the Mittelnacht for a year.